I nodded and smiled. “It’s a crazy long story, but I’m CEO of CMI, and no one can take that away from me unless I want to give it away.”
She threw herself into my arms. “Oh, Charlie! This is wonderful news.”
I hugged her back. “I know. I’ve been trying to get some things straight in my head before I talk to your brother. When I saw him here tonight, I was over the moon at the idea of talking to him.”
Her smile faded. “He left. Mom said he seemed upset and took off. Said he had an emergency at the bar.”
“Shit,” I hissed out. “He saw Darrell and probably got the wrong idea about us.”
“Probably.”
I rubbed my temples and then dropped my hands. I was a shitty friend. Taking Lily’s hands in mine, I faced her.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes. Two months.”
“Does Mark know?”
Lily nodded. “He’s over the moon. He asked me to marry him last night and I said … I said yes.”
“Are you happy?” I asked, giving her hands a slight squeeze.
She shrugged. “This would have made my father happy.”
“That’s not what I asked, Lily. I asked if you were happy about this.”
Another tear slipped from her beautiful green eyes.
“I care about Mark a lot, and I’m sure once the baby comes and we’re married we’ll be fine.”
“But you don’t love him?” I asked.
“I think I do. He’s a great guy and makes me feel good.”
“Sexually, or just in general?”
Her cheeks blushed. “Both. He does things to me that Nash didn’t. It’s completely different with him. He likes … doing different stuff to me and I like it too.”
I smiled. “He’s into kinky shit, huh?”
She chuckled while letting out a quick sob. “Yeah. He likes tying me up and having sex in public places. It’s sort of hot. He went down on me in the limo on the way here, and that is something Nash would never have done. I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard in my life knowing the driver could hear us. It was … thrilling. I feel guilty saying that I like the way Mark makes me feel and that I’m falling in love with him because I really do love Nash. I’m confused.”
My heart broke for her.
“If I’ve learned anything these last few months, it’s that life is short. That we’re not granted tomorrow and if we don’t stand up for the things we want, they slip away and there isn’t a
damn thing we can do about it. If I could give you any piece of advice, Lily, it would be to tell Nash the truth. I’m sure he’s hurting and confused and even if it ruins your friendship, the truth is out there.”
She nodded. “He won’t forgive me. Maybe if I wasn’t pregnant, but carrying another man’s child, he … he won’t forgive me.”
Her head dropped to my shoulder. I knew she was right. Nash didn’t come from the same type of families as Lily and I did. His father owned a construction company that he pretty much forced Nash to work for. He didn’t drive $100,000 cars around like Lily, Tucker, and me. Hell, even Blake came from a well-to-do family. Nash would never truly fit into the life Lily made for herself. And with her father gone, she would surely step up her role in his communications company. She wouldn’t be CEO, but she’d be heavily involved, and that wasn’t Nash’s scene.
A thought occurred to me though. Lily had never given Nash the chance to try to fit into her world. She’d kept their relationship a secret, and it wasn’t until recently that even I found about the two of them. If she had just been honest, where would they both be now?
Pain hit me right in the chest. Who in the hell was I to judge?
“I need to find Tucker,” I said. “Will you be okay?”